A Search For Truth
by aylaa
Summary: "What is truth?" asks an eight year old Quistis, before she begins her search for understanding.


A Search For Truth

It was a beautiful day, the clear azure blue skies reflected upon the calm blue waters. Light from the sun shone down, encasing the ground in an aura of serenity. The peacefulness was somehow complimented by the sound of children's laughter, which filled the air. It was a good day to be alive. To a child, their greatest joy is one that most adults lack, the joy of simply being alive. 

The white-gold sand of the beach was currently being formed by several small pairs of hands into a sand castle of sorts. If an observer were to take a closer look, they'd find upon inspection it was actually three pairs of hands building the castle, two sets tangling with each other in a fight, and one set clenched into tiny fists. The owner of the clenched pair of hands, a young girl with honey blonde hair and eyes that were the same blue as the sky that certain day, was currently giving orders on building the castle, and being the mediator in the hostilities between the two other children who had decided it was much more interesting to tangle with each other. She was losing the battle in the battle, as both combatants seemed to be ignoring her displeasure in the situation.

All activity stopped when an elegantly regal woman walked down the beach to where they were. Her dark brown eyes shone with love towards the children, however, she was obviously displeased that two had decided to fight instead of trying to resolve their problems in other more peaceful manners. To seven and eight year old children, peace means little as they can still take protection it for granted.

"Squall, Seifer, please go back to the house, I wish to talk with you alone. Alright?" Edea said softly, yet firmly. 

The two children in question, one dark, one fair, like the yin and yang of each other, nodded guiltily. They knew now that what they had been doing was wrong, and however kind their matron may be, bad children need to be punished. Both started to walk down the stretch of beach back to the stone house. It was strange to see the pair now, at peace with each other after their prior hostilities. Children, are quick to forgive and forget.

The three children formerly occupied with the sandcastle stared incredulously at their matron. She seemed to have this power over all of them, despite the fact that she was not their mother, or even a relative. 

Edea noticed their careful scrutiny and smiled. "Hello Selphie, Irvine, Zell, that's a very nice sandcastle you're building." Her tone was once again the same soft, even tone that she had addressed the troublemakers with. It was strange how the voice would be so kind yet could also be commanding in the same instance. 

A young girl with emerald green eyes that glittered when she smiled, and brown hair which curled slightly at the ends beamed back at the woman, obviously extremely pleased at the compliment. "We've worked so hard on it, but Quisty helped the mostest!" she happily replied.

Shifting her gaze from the figures of the three children gathered around the sandcastle, Edea turned her gaze towards the one that stood apart from the others. Quistis had been a precocious child, always solemn and quietly inquisitive and observant. While the other children were always so happy and content, despite their occasional head-butting, Quistis always seemed to be deeply affected with something that no eight year old child should be burdened with. Walking over to the singled out child, Edea placed her hand on Quistis' shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. 

"Are you alright?" 

Looking up, azure blue eyes met with the warmth of dark brown eyes. Shyly, Quistis addressed matron with what was currently on her mind. 

"Matron.. what is truth?"

A bemused smile appeared on Edea's face. How often does one field that question from a young child? Years of experience had however taught her to humor any questions children may ask as seriously as possible. 

"It was what you see, what you can feel." was the reply that she gave. Nothing in her voice betrayed the giggles that threatened to break her composure.

The girl somehow did not seem satisfied with the answer. Glancing up at her guardian, she hugged the woman's legs quickly before joining her friends again in the construction of the formerly forgotten sandcastle. 

Smiling, Edea strolled away from the happy scene, she still had to deal with the two. They were not delinquents, but they simply had to learn how to get along with each other.

--

The rain pounded down on the thin roof of the stone house. It was not the most reliable of shelters, and several leaks had opened, which had pots and jars carefully placed underneath them. The children had decided to stay in their room and play 'pretend' once again. It was the most beloved game among the children of the orphanage, Edea had deduced that it was because they were born into the world with nothing, and by escaping in to a world where they were the heroes and heroines, they had a make believe fortune that was their wealth. 

One child had decided to opt out on the game today, and sat dutifully in the kitchen, watching to make sure that if any of the water catchers filled, they were promptly emptied. 

After checking on the children who were still engrossed in their fantasy, Edea entered the kitchen and looked to the little girl who sat staring at the dripping water. Being alone somehow made her seem younger, the lost princess was in the kitchen dutifully doing what was needed while the others frittered away. Sighing, Edea mentally contemplated. "The child much too old, why did Hyne place an old soul into the body of a young girl?".

Glancing up at the new presence to the room, Quistis smiled slightly. Her features, although sullen in repose, lit up beautifully with a smile. 

Taking a chair out and sitting down beside the child, Edea joined Quistis in sharing the simple beauty of droplets of water falling. It was so peaceful, the only sounds being the pitter-patter of the rain above, and the occasional drip of the droplets of falling water. 

Quistis however, broke the silence.

"Matron.. I don't understand, how can we see the whole truth, if we can only see one side at a time?"

This time, Edea did not have the restraint to stop from laughing outright at the question. The child did have a point, how can we, with only eyes on one side, see the whole truth, all 360 degrees of it? She truly could not come up with an answer to that question. But not giving something to the child would leave her disappointed. Standing up, she walked over to one of the cupboards and opened it, reaching to a shelf near the top. She pulled out an object in a sealed plastic bag, in case of water ever ruining it, and walked back, handing it to Quistis.

"Quistis, this is my camera. Why don't you try to take a picture of the truth?" she said, smiling. 

Not understanding that matron did not have an answer, she opened the bag up and eyed the camera inside. Glancing back up at the giver of the gift, she saw that Edea had already left the room, no doubt to check on the other children again.

--

At first, she was unsure what to take photographs of. When the weather had cleared up, she looked carefully along the beach for creatures that were hiding in the sand. Surely they were the truth, since she could see them with her own eyes. But she quickly grew weary of looking, and concluded that how could they be the truth, when they were hidden both when she was looking and not looking at them?

The other orphan children had resumed playing on the beach, this time splashing each other with the warm salt water that rolled up onto the beach in gentle waves. In a sudden moment of clarity, she understood, and ran off to photograph the truth.

--

Edea had sent the roll of film away to be developed, and Quistis had eagerly awaited the arrival of the prints, standing on top a grassy knoll in the flower field, so she would be the first to see if anyone was coming. Eventually, a figure did appear, and was heading towards the stone house as well. Running as fast as her legs could carry her, she approached the stranger, with no fear in her eyes. 

The man was surprised, a child had started to approach him, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he may not be a kind stranger. He however did love children, and hoped one day that he and his wife would have many. As she came closer, he saw that it was Quistis, one of 'their' children. He smiled, knelt down and opened his arms, which the girl promptly ran into. 

"Quistis.. my how big you've grown." The man laughed, as he picked her up and swung her around.

The girl was equally as happy. She giggled and laughed, unlike her usual calm and collected demeanor. 

"Now I'm going to put you down now, I have a surprise for you." he said gently as he placed her back down into the grass. Sorting through his bag, he pulled out a package which he had picked up from the post office to deliver personally. Handing it to Quistis, she looked down at the envelope carefully and giggled with glee when she realized what were the contents. Tearing off the envelope, she pulled the prints out of the paper jacket they had been placed in and begun to flip through them excitedly. 

Cid looked over her shoulder, curious as to why she was so excited over photos. There were several photos of crabs and fish, all common to the beach. But most of the photos were of the orphan children, however, it was just the back of their heads. He was puzzled, why pictures of the back of their heads?

Quistis continued to flip through the pictures before she stopped at the one that she had wanted right now. Handing it to Cid, he saw that it was yet another picture of the back of someone's head. His head in fact, he could tell by the color of hair, and the shirt that he always wore. 

"What is this for?" he asked, still puzzled.

"It's to help you." she replied, confident in her answer. "Now you can see the whole truth."

AN; yep, I ripped the idea of the whole truth from Yi Yi, possibly the best movie ever. Also.. notice how cliché packed this story was? I hope you got your proper dosage of cliché today! .. I'm just about drowning in it. :) Flame/praise as you see fit!


End file.
